SpaceX wins $4.16 billion US Space Force contract for threat-detection satellites

The ​US. Space Force ​said on Friday it has awarded Elon Musk’s ​IPO-bound SpaceX a $4.16 billion deal for a satellite program designed to track and target airborne threats.

The Space-Based Advanced Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) is designed as an ‌interconnected system-of-systems, ⁠combining space-based ⁠sensors, secure communications links and ground processing to drive closer cooperation across ​the government space industrial base.

The Trump administration’s flagship Golden Dome missile defense system has many layers, one of them being a sensing and tracking layer. The satellites would be expected to play a role in tracking missiles.